


Chlolix November

by Cornerverse



Series: Hero Chat AU [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Some angst, Swearing, a little salt slips in for a few chapters, a lot of fluf, characters and ships to be added, other ships are just background focused tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-30
Packaged: 2021-01-16 09:48:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 13,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21269054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cornerverse/pseuds/Cornerverse
Summary: Another themed ship thing! For one of my fave rarepairs! And a whole month of prompts.Be prepared.





	1. Hairstyles/Hair Dye

**Author's Note:**

> Most of these take place in the Hero Chat AU, which involves Chloé's Hero Persona being 'Honeybee' instead of 'Queen Bee'. They also take place at different points in time, some being years in the future. I'll try to give context for that when it happens.

“I would’ve expected you to do this at some fancy salon,” Alix said, reading the instructions on the box.

“Shut up,” Chloé grumbled. “This is part of the whole thing! Teen rebellion and dying your hair with store-bought dye and a friend dumping it on your head. If I went to a salon, it wouldn’t have the same impact!”

“You completely forgot that fancy salons have options for crazy hair colors,” she deadpanned.

She pouted again, which only got a few snickers out of Alix. The pair looked over the various boxes of hair dye on the bathroom counter. It was a little overwhelming.

“You planning a full rainbow?” Alix asked, picking up another box.

“I couldn’t decide on a color yet,” Chloé admitted. “I want something obvious, maybe even obnoxiously obvious, but not ridiculous!”

“Utterly ridiculous?” she finished.

“Exactly,” she rolled her eyes. “I’d have to coordinate my outfits and makeup around whatever color I choose! At the very least I have to find a shade that works with the Bee Miraculous. I can’t really change those colors.”

“While I’m partial to my bubblegum pink,” she began. “Purple might work for you. Complementary colors and all that.”

“But then we'd be pink and purple,” she replied. "Rose and Juleka already have that combo covered."

“True,” she agreed. “What about going full black?”

“Ugh,” she groaned. “It’d look good and it's very much a statement, but me with black hair is just Queen Wasp!”

“Green would be weird,” she mused. “Blue could work. Have the curtains match the windows. Orange might look okay, but-”

“Orange would clash with most yellows,” she said. “And I’m already a blonde, so yellow’s out.”

“Maybe you should go rainbow,” she said.

All that got was an unimpressed glare.


	2. Roller Skating

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's real short.

“What?” Chloé asked, looking at her with far too much innocence in her voice to be real. “You didn’t expect me to actually use the rental skates, right?”

Alix had to admit that. Even she didn’t use the rental skates at the local roller rink. Still, that was because she did this all the time. She was more of a professional at it. She even had different skates for roller rink skating versus street skating.

Still, while she didn’t expect Chloé to use the rental skates, she didn’t expect her to have gold and black bee themed skates.

“Do you even know how to use those?” Alix asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Haven’t tried them much,” Chloé admitted. “But I know how to ice skate. It’s similar, right?”

“I haven’t been ice skating, so I wouldn’t know,” she said. “Seems like it might have some similarities.”

“Exactly,” she said. “Besides. Being bad at skating is a good excuse to hold your hand while you teach.”

Chloé laughed at the redness creeping into Alix’s face at that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty sure ice skating and rollerskating aren't that similar, though looking it up gets vague 'well it's similar but also completely different' answers.


	3. Shopping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I had the time and energy I'd draw the dress but guess what I don't!

“I think I might actually be dying,” Alix said.

“And you call me dramatic,” Chloé said.

“Because you are!” she shot back.

Chloé paused, sticking her head out of the changing room to look at her. Alix was out in the shop floor, reclined on one of the couches nearby. And by ‘reclined’, she means that one leg was hooked over the back of the couch and her arms were covering her face.

“Which one of us is draped over a fainting couch?” Chloé asked.

“It’s not a fainting couch!” Alix retorted, moving her arms from her face so she could shoot her a glare. “It’s the ‘my girlfriend dragged me out shopping and I have to wait while she tries on a million dresses’ couch. Ask any guy who goes shopping with his girlfriend, and you’ll hear about it!”

“Right,” she said. “You do realize the only males I have ever done fashion stuff with are Adrien and his father? The model and the fashion designer? They don’t usually stay on the couch.”

“Okay, ninety nine percent of men,” she corrected. 

“True,” she admitted. “I can make it up to you.”

“Make it up to me?” she parroted. “Please tell me it’s by the shopping trip swinging by a store with something other than just clothes?”

“That too,” she said. “For now, I was going to ask your opinion on the dress.”

Alix sat up, intending some snarky reply. The words died in her mouth seeing the dress. It was Chloé signature gold and black. The top was simple, short sleeves and a shallow v neckline. The skirt had two layers. The under layer being black, knee-length, and a bit form fitting. The outer layer was gold and floor-length, loose enough that it would billow dramatically as she walked.

“I think that’s an appropriate reaction,” Chloé smirked. “Guess that makes the decision on whether or not to buy it.”

“Y-yeah,” Alix agreed, her brain trying to catch up.

“Now I just need to find shoes and accessories!” she said, ducking back into the changing room.

Alix groaned, flopping back on the couch while Chloé attempted to muffle her snickering.


	4. Prized Possession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, while this uses Honeybee instead of Queen Bee, this is actually the only chapter not taking place in the Hero Chat AU!
> 
> That's because I saw 'Prized Possession' and immediately thought of the old Phantom Theif AU. Which can be found here: https://princess-of-the-corner.tumblr.com/post/187120725977/last-ladybug-au-concept-i-promise-okay-thats-a

“Hey there Honeybun.”

Alix jumped, choking on Chinese takeout. Once she could breathe again, she spun her chair and glared at the intruder. Fortunately the voice was a familiar intruder, or else she would’ve gotten an umbrella to the face.

“So,” Alix began, glaring harder as she took in the woman’s ‘work outfit’. “Guess you’re here on business then.”

“I can mix business and fun,” Honeybee replied.

“Sure,” she raised an eyebrow. “That’s why you always yell at Chat for doing the same.”

“Ugh,” she rolled her eyes. “It’s different. When he mixes business and fun, either Ladybug and Rena get away with the loot, or he nearly gets us arrested!”

“Sure it’s different,” she said. “I’d ask if that’s why he’s not here, but I think I would’ve heard something about the great Chat Noir getting arrested. And you wouldn’t be nearly as calm if you were asking me to help break him out of jail.”

“He’s in time out for nearly getting arrested,” she explained. “Of course we had to run into that cute cop again. The idiot actually let her get far enough to cuff him before I hit her with Venom. I have to feel a little sorry for her. Marinette’s sweet. It makes you feel guilty when you have to hurt her.”

“You sound so remorseful,” she rolled her eyes. “So, who’s your target?”

Before answering, Honeybee decided to walk over to the planning table. With another eye roll, Alix followed, already unlocking the touchscreen and accessing her files.

“Lamaire,” Honeybee said. “Local politician. He has his ‘prized possession’ on loan to the museum.”

“Really?” Alix grinned. “Please tell me you’re doing a full Miraculous Special on him?”

“Eager to see him taken down a few pegs?” she asked.

“Absolutely,” she scoffed. “I was going to suggest him after the last event I had to attend with my dad and Jalil. The guy’s old enough to be my dad, but he insisted on flirting with me. Only reason I didn’t deck him was because dad asked me to play nice.”

“Yep, he’s definitely getting the ‘Miraculous Special,” she growled. “Who knows. With the way heists have been going lately, maybe he’ll get a double hit with Ladybug and Rena.”

She looked cute when she was angry. The buzzing bee. Though as adorable as she was, Alix knew better than to let that anger get directed at her. Honeybee might be dramatic and sometimes dorky, but she can be dangerous when she wants to be.

“You know...” Alix began. “Since this is an art museum, you probably could’ve gone to Nathaniel about it.”

“True,” Honeybee said, her anger melting into a sly smile. “But then I wouldn’t get to see you.”

Alix was never sure if the tingling feeling of Honeybee’s kiss was leftover Magic, or just the way she felt. Hell, maybe it was just a mild allergic reaction to her lipgloss. Either way, she knew they’d probably get little planning done for the next hour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact: My actual first thought when hearing 'Prized Possession is like, 'You win a contest. The prize is possession. You are now possessed by a demon.".


	5. Saving Each Other

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alya needs more coffee. Also featuring the first use of Kagami's new name: Arashi.

Alya decided that she hadn’t had enough coffee for whatever it was that made Chloé and Alix storm up to her desk this morning.

“Alya, we need someone to settle a debate for us,” Chloé grinned in that overly-sweet way she did when she wanted something.

“’Debate’,” Alix rolled her eyes. “More like we need proof that I’m right!”

Chloé glared at the girl before both turned their gaze back to Alya. She highly debated running off and not dealing with this. She glanced at Nino, hoping he would save her, but he just backed out of the doorway and hid in the hall. Traitor.

“Fine,” Alya groaned after a large swig of her coffee. “What are you ‘debating’ about this time?”

“As our resident Ladyblogger,” Chloé began, “You have footage of last night’s Akuma attack. We just need footage of what happened after Honeybee and Bunnyx were tossed off the roof!”

“She thinks Honeybee saved them from hitting the ground,” Alix explained. “But I know Bunnyx was the one who kept them from wiping out on the concrete.”

Alya was a little confused as to why this argument was happening in the first place. Obviously Chloé’s investment in Honeybee was just to stroke her own ego. But why was Alix interested in Bunnyx at all?

Resolving to put that mystery on the backburner, she downed the rest of her coffee and pulled out her phone. A quick trip to the Ladyblog and checking for videos tagged with both Heroes, and she found something a fan submitted.

With both girls looking over her shoulders, she pressed play. Honeybee and Bunnyx fell off the roof. Honeybee threw her top at the building across, then the next second Bunnyx hooked her umbrella onto a windowsill. They halted to a stop from the umbrella right before the top’s string snapped taut.

“See!” Alix shouted, pointing at the video. “The umbrella stopped them!”

“Technically,” Chloé scoffed, standing up straight and twirling a strand of hair. “But Honeybee threw her top before Bunnyx hooked them, so she acted first.”

Staring wistfully at the empty coffee cup, Alya waited for the two to stop bickering. Eventually, they asked her to be the tiebreaker. With a heavy sigh, she gave them both a look.

“Considering the Akuma was still after them,” Alya said, “And it was Arashi who grabbed both of them and dragged them out of the line of fire, I’m saying she saved them both.”

The pair gave each other a glance, both looking suitably embarrassed by the fact. Alya left them to figure that out on their own while she got another coffee. Double the espresso this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're having fun.


	6. Roses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These damn rich people

“I assume this is you being subtle?” Alix asked.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Chloé sighed dramatically.

Raising an eyebrow, Alix gestured to her desk. It was absolutely covered in roses. Dozens of bouquets in fancy Valentines Day wrapping sat on the table, the chair, and spilling onto the floor. They were red, pink and white, with the occasional dyed blue one popping out.

She looked back to Chloé, who just played dumb.

“Well, I have no idea who could’ve done that!” Chloé said.

“Really,” Alix sighed. “The only people in class with enough money to do this are you and Adrien.”

“Maybe Adrien bought you roses!” she said.

Alix’s defense for that was to gesture over to Marinette’s desk, which was also covered in just as many roses, though in pink, red, and black. Along with the overly-excited Adrien tapping his foot while he stared intently at the door.

“Yeah, he’s not good at subtlety,” Chloé said.

“Neither are you,” Alix said.

Chloé pouted, continuing to pretend she had noting to do with it. Rolling her eyes, Alix picked up one of the bouquets.

“Fine,” Alix relented. “How about you help me figure out what I’m supposed to do with a metric fuckton of roses?”

“Only if you tell me what you got me,” Chloé smirked.

“I’ll give you your present later tonight,” she replied.

As she heard Kim choking on that sentence, she chucked the bouquet at him and told him to get his mind out of the gutter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No one in this class is good at 'subtle'.


	7. Bee And Bunny Merchandise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lila's mentioned in passing because fuck her.

“Oh good, you’re here!” Chloé said, opening the door to let Alix in. “Just transform and get up on the platform over there.”

“I… what?” Alix asked. “Why?”

“I need good reference photos of Bunnyx for the merch department,” she explained. “What are the flowers for?”

“Nothing,” she replied quickly, setting the bouquet on the table. “Uh, you said something about the ‘merch department’?”

“Where do you think all the Hero merchandise came from?” she asked.

“Figured people saw heroes and decided to make a profit,” she replied.

“Well, yes, that is what happened,” she shrugged. “But after that whole issue with the movie, Ladybug decided to be a bit more careful about it.”

“What issues with the movie?” she wondered.

“I’ll answer that once you’re transformed on the platform,” she said.

Sure enough, there was a small, circular platform in the middle of the room. Along with several professional looking lights. With a sigh, Alix transformed and stepped up on the platform. Chloé immediately picked up a camera that looked as professional as the lights and began snapping pictures.

“You remember that animated Ladybug movie a while back?” Chloé asked. “Ladybug and Chat found it ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. They wrote Ladybug being ‘afraid of cats’. Except, of course, the ‘dark, brooding, and handsome’ Chat Noir.”

“I think I completely blocked that out of my memory,” Bunnyx said. “The movie version of Chat was so out of character they had the literal actual Chat Noir voicing him, but no one even questioned his identity!”

“Exactly,” she scoffed. “After that… disaster, Ladybug decided she needed someone ‘official’ deciding who all can use her and the rest of the Team in their properties. Alya and I ended up working on it. She does the news stuff, being the Ladyblogger and all that. I tend to deal with the merchandise and other copyright stuff. Unfortunately it’s too late to do anything about the movie.”

“So you’re taking pictures for Bunnyx toys?” she asked.

“Yep,” she answered. “If I’m doing this, I’m doing it right. And that means making toys as accurate as possible, so I need some good angles of your costume.”

“Is this the time to ask about a royalties check?” she asked. “You are using my image. So technically-”

“It’s tricky with secret identities,” she answered. “I do have a plan set up though. ‘Bunnyx’s’ cut goes to various hero charities, and I add you onto the PR team and get salaries. If you want to double dip though, we are planning a line of Akuma toys. Think Timebreaker would get any sales?”

“How the hell are you doing an Akuma line with that whole copyright thing?” she wondered.

“Easy,” she shrugged, adjusting one of the lights. “Ask for permission and offer royalty checks. Of course, if I happen to comment on how someone who always talks about their ‘charity work’ would probably be ‘so much of a goody two shoes’ that she’ll probably reject my offer in favor of donating her cut to charity like her ‘bff Ladybug’, well, that’s just a bonus.”

“Ah, emotional royalty check,” she snorted. “Worth it.”

When Chloé didn’t reply, Bunnyx looked over her shoulder at her. Come to think of it, she hadn’t heard the camera go off in a minute. Also, Chloé’s gaze seemed focused a little lower…

“Are you-” Bunnyx tried to rein in her laughter. “Are you staring at my butt?”

“N-no!” Chloé said, swiftly turning her face and hiding behind a hand. “I was- I was just wondering why your costume didn’t have a tail! And- and damn it those suits are really form fitting!”

Bunnyx laughed even harder. Unfortunately, Chloé was red and pouting. Putting the camera down was a sure sign that she was about to storm out.

“Wait, I’m sorry!” Bunnyx said, the last of her laughter dying out. “I’m not mad or anything.”

“Obviously not,” Chloé huffed. “You’re having a hell of a fun time though.”

“Maybe a little,” she said. “It’s just, those flowers? It was because when you came up to me and was all ‘hey, come over to my place, don’t tell anyone’, I kinda assumed it was a roundabout way of asking me on a date?”

“Oh,” she said, anger draining. “Well, I hadn’t planned on it. But if you let me get a few pictures of your umbrella, I’ll buy dinner at the hotel restaurant.”

“Deal,” she grinned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love the whole 'Chloé running the merch department' thing I keep using.


	8. Ice Cream Flavors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Real damn short.

Chloé still wasn’t entirely sure about the whole ‘Sweetheart Ice Cream’ thing. True, most of her friends believed in it. And there was something to be said about the fact that if she could magically turn into a bee-themed superhero, why couldn’t the ice cream be Magic?

But sitting here with her girlfriend, sharing a cherry and lemonade cone with her while the rest of their friends either got their own cones or argued with the vendor about how many flavors there should be….

It did make her feel like it could be Magic. Perhaps even a bit Miraculous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short and sweet, that is!


	9. Interviews

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nadja is still chasing down a romance between Heroes.

Honeybee stopped, grinning at Nadja and her cameraman as a microphone was shoved in her face.

“Can you spare a few minutes for an interview?” Nadja asked.

“My power’s not running out just yet,” Honeybee said. “We should probably keep this to just a few questions though.”

“Great!” she exclaimed. “So, you and Chat Noir got along pretty well during that last fight. Do I sense a love triangle between you two and Ladybug?”

“Oh, no, absolutely not!” she laughed. “That’s ridicu- I mean, I’m not his type, really. And he’s not mine.”

“Not into your fellow blondes?” she wondered.

“Hm, not really,” she mused, playing with her ponytail. “I like the more… outlandish haircolors.”

“So Viperion’s more your thing?” she asked.

“Not him in particular,” she admitted. “Honestly, I’m not interested in any of the current teammates.”

“So it’s in your civilian life,” she guessed. “Care to give any hints to your mystery man?”

“Well,” she mused. “For one thing, it’s not a mystery ‘man’.”

Honeybee stayed long enough to relish the expression on Nadja’s face. Then she made an excuse to leave and ran off, swinging across rooftops.

By the time she landed in her room, her phone already had a text.

**Wonderland:** Saw that interview. Nadja’s face was priceless!

**Queen Bitch:** Oh, she’s probably going nuts. I know how to play the crowd. Give them just a little bit of something interesting and they’ll go wild.

**Wonderland:** You’re already trending on twitter. Check out #HoneyBi #LesBEEan

**Queen Bitch:** I have a feeling those tags were started by a certain cat.

**Wonderland:** Of course.

**Queen Bitch:** Bet you he’s been waiting to break those out ever since Queen Bee.

**Wonderland:** Which reminds me, do you have a more specific label?

**Queen Bitch:** Labels are for peasants. I like you and that’s what matters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No I haven't watched the new episode yet but I'm already scared.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is so done.

“Should we… stop them?” Marinette asked.

She then gestured to Alix and Chloé, who seemed to be fighting. They weren’t quite yelling yet. But an insult here, a snarky comment there, and it was very well into the conversation. Both getting very animated in their hand movements.

“Eh,” Adrien shrugged. “They’re fine.”

“What are they even arguing about?” Alya asked.

“I lost track about five minutes ago,” Kim said.

“And you don’t see the problem of letting the two of them fight for several minutes?” Nino asked.

“Give it a few more seconds,” Adrien said.

“Yep,” Kim nodded, holding up a hand for a countdown. “Five… Four… Three… Two...One!”

When the countdown ended, the rest of them watched as Alix grabbed the front of Chloé’s shirt and tugged her down into a kiss.

“What the hell…?” Alya muttered.

“Their flirting style is very aggressive,” Max explained. “Chloé’s is more verbal while Alix prefers to get physical, but they seem to be balancing it between Civilian and Hero.”

“I give up,” Marinette sighed.


	11. Street Art

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this isn't outright from Lady Luck, but it was a scene I was thinking about putting in Lady Luck.

“Put this on,” Alix said, holding out a respirator mask.

“Ugh, no,” Chloé scoffed. “It looks hideous and it will destroy my hair and makeup!”

“Know what’s more hideous than that?” she replied. “Lung damage from inhaling paint fumes. So put the damn thing on or we’re not doing this.”

With a sigh, Chloé slipped the mask on. Ironically it was harder to breathe in the thing, but it did it’s job. She asked for this, after all. Literally. She wanted to learn more art mediums.

Most of Chloé’s art experience was in fashion sketches and photography. She’d occasionally dabbled in other artstyles and even a few different mediums throughout the years, though it was mostly through school art classes.

Usually those were disasters. Like what happened in pottery class. She hadn’t meant to make her sculpture explode in the kiln and take out a few other projects in the process. But, well, no one believes that the ‘Queen Bitch’ causing chaos is an accident.

Shoving that memory aside, Chloé followed Alix’s lead and grabbed a can of paint, shaking it well.

“Don’t worry about getting it perfect yet,” Alix said, her voice muffled by the respirator. “Just figure out how the paint works.”

Chloé frowned, not that Alix could see the expression. But she did decide to test a spray on the canvas. The color she’d chosen was at random, but was a bright greenish-blue. 

Her first spray was hesitant, short. Not enough of the paint spraying out to make a solid mark. The second was the opposite, too much paint that sent it dripping down. Same with distance. Close to the canvas caused solid lines, but they were more likely to drip down if she wasn’t fast enough. And too far away didn’t get enough paint on the canvas.

For the most part, she tried to stay on her side of the canvas. But both she and Alix occasionally strayed into each others’ sides. Mostly Chloé though, since she didn’t have nearly as much practice to know how far her spray was going.

The end result was kind of a mess. No real structure to any of it. Just splashes of colors, random lines and haphazard flourishes. Some spots had too much paint dripping down while others probably could’ve been sprayed some more.

“Well, it’s not a masterpiece,” Chloé commented.

“Coming from you, I think that’s ‘I think it’s nice’,” Alix said.

Chloé only hummed in agreement. This time she was glad the respirator hid her expression, because she really didn’t want her to see the small smile on her face.


	12. Jewelry/Piercings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is right after Alix gets the nosering.

“Did it hurt?” Chloé asked.

“When I fell from heaven?” Alix joked.

“I was thinking more ‘when you got a hunk of metal jammed through your nose,” she replied.

“A little,” she shrugged and laughed. “But hey. When you get thrown through a wall for a dayjob, your pain tolerance really goes up!”

Chloé winced at that. Which didn’t go unnoticed. Alix gave her that look. The one that asks the question without really asking.

“It’s kinda hard to think about,” Chloé admitted. “The whole ‘watching people I care about getting thrown through walls’ thing. Our Transformations keep us from getting too hurt, and Ladybug’s Miraculous Cure can heal anything, but still.”

“Right,” Alix sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. “I don’t like thinking about it much either. I make jokes and all, but I’m not going to stop and think about it too much unless it’s something like ‘what if the Miraculous Cure heals my piercing?’. Because that’d suck.”

“I’m pretty sure it doesn’t heal piercings,” she rolled her eyes. “I mean, Ladybug’s Miraculous is earrings. Can you imagine if every time she used her powers she had to re-pierce her ears?”

“Yikes,” she replied. “Now I’m just imagining what would happen if she lost an earring. Would she even be able to transform? Or would she be at half-power or what?”

“Suddenly I’m very thankful my Miraculous is a hair comb,” she groaned.

“Big mood,” she replied. “Imagine what it would’ve been like if my Miraculous was a nosering or something. Obviously I like them, but my dad handing it to me on my birthday saying ‘this has been a family heirloom for generations!’ becomes a lot grosser.”

“Ugh,” she nearly gagged. “I’d assume it was cleaned but still. Gross. And I know the Ox Miraculous is actually a nose ring. Hopefully Marinette remembers to clean it before handing it out. Or using it again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Asking the big questions here.


	13. Surprise (Heroine) Visits

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should probably stop having them dunk on Adrien, but he makes it so easy

Chloé jumped when she heard a knock on the glass door that lead to her balcony. There were very few people who could show up on the top floor of the hotel in the middle of the night. There were even less who would try it, knowing they’d likely get Honeybee’s top to the face.

Rolling her eyes, and making sure to give an unimpressed look through the glass, she opened the door for her favorite bunny.

“You’re almost as bad as Chat Noir,” Chloé huffed.

“Love you too,” Bunnyx said.

“I mean it,” she said. “The only difference is when you show up on a girl’s balcony, you don’t get all ‘she’s just a friend!!!’ on us.”

“You’ve got me there,” she laughed. “Seriously though, you want to go for a run around the city? I hear there’s a great view from the rooftops.”

“I am the great view,” she said. “And you do realize that we have class in the morning, right?”

“Like that’s stopped us before,” she rolled her eyes. “Besides, if the last few weeks are any indication, I’m pretty sure there’s going to be another 2 am Akuma.”

“Ugh,” she groaned. “You’re probably right. Hawkmoth’s sleep patterns are all over the place!”

“Exactly,” she said. “So do you want to have an hour of fun around the city and then a fight, or a short nap?”

“I was going to go anyway but now I almost have to,” she sighed. “Fine. Let me grab my wallet so I can get snacks later.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also I haven't seen Felix yet but I'll get to it eventually.


	14. Secret Dating

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is actually connected to some later chapters where they actually go to the party. So there's that!

“So, I have a question,” Chloé began.

“Usually you just ask so now I’m worried,” Alix frowned.

Chloé started pacing, absentmindedly messing with her hair. Despite thinking this was a good idea, she was also very aware that this could turn into a hell of a disaster.

“So there’s this party I have to go to,” Chloé began, still pacing. “With my mom. Because it’s some fancy ‘mingle with the important people’ party. And I do not want to be stuck there alone all night. So I was going to ask you but-”

“But you don’t want your mom knowing about us,” Alix finished.

“Exactly,” she said. “Honestly I don’t even know if she’ll care about you being a girl. But for me to date someone so ‘unexceptional’ is, well, ‘unexceptional’. Then again, whoever I decided to choose would probably get called ‘unexceptional’ since they’d be with me so-”

“Honeybun, it’s fine,” she cut her off. “First off, while I think that you shouldn’t care about what your mom thinks, it’s okay. I can handle pretending to be just a friend for a night.”

“Can you handle being around my mother for a night?” she asked. “And around a bunch of stuck-up rich people? Some of which are as bad as I used to be or worse?”

“I can promise not to deck someone?” she answered. “I’m not going to stay quiet if someone insults me. Especially if your mom insults you. But I won’t ‘cause a scene’.”

“I have half a mind to ask you to cause a scene,” she said.

“While I’m not opposed to that,” she grinned, “If you want to keep the relationship low-key to either shut your mom up or for whatever reputation thing, I get it.”

“Thanks for this,” she sighed. “For, you know, being okay with the fuckery that is my life.”

“Anytime,” she said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Audrey fucking sucks.


	15. Jealousy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short and no dialogue! Fun!

Alix never thought she would be the jealous type. And for the most part, she wasn’t! She knew Chloé loved her. Sure, the girl also loved attention. But she knew that attention wasn’t enough to break them up.

Still, Chloé was pretty. When she had been a jerk, people looked past that for how pretty she was. Now that she was a better person, albeit still very snarky and not ‘the best’, there were a handful more.

Some were classmates, but others were various rich kids. Ones whose lifestyle matched Chloé’s typical rich girl, shopaholic, high-maintenance persona.

Those ones made Alix a little nervous. But then she’d see how they reacted to the other sides of Chloé. The side that was no longer afraid to get her hands dirty, both metaphorically and literally. She nearly gave some fancy pants CEO’s kid a heart attack when she ripped down a decorative sword from his wall to fend off the Akuma that was after him.

Oddly enough, the admirers that made Alix the most jealous weren’t the ones that admired Chloé. No, it was the ones who admired Honeybee.

Honeybee’s admirers were a bit more honest, less shallow. It might be a ‘celebrity crush’, but they genuinely liked Honeybee. She wasn’t just pretty or wealthy. She was worthy of being called a Hero.

In the long run though, any jealousy didn’t last long. All it took was a run along the rooftops to clear her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. my laptop is kinda dying. This might effect my uploading. I have all of this fic on a flashdrive, but to update or work on the remaining two chapters, I have to borrow my mom's laptop.   
Things might be uploaded late, and those two chapters I have to work on might get put on hold. I'll try my best to get them out though!


	16. Motorcycle Rides

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My friend suggested that this Akuma is actually just Nicolas Cage on vacation in Paris.

The latest Akuma was strange, to say the least. If only for the fact that it was basically Ghost Rider. Guy on a motorcycle with a flaming skull. Simple, though he did look pretty cool.

Ladybug wasn’t sure what the guy was upset about, or why her instincts told her Bunnyx would help. Really she could use someone with a speed power, since the Akuma could zoom through the streets faster than they could run, even with Superpowers.

Finally getting tired of running around in circles, Ladybug felt it was time for a Lucky Charm. Only she didn’t expect it to drop a red and black motorcycle.

“What the hell am I supposed to do with this?” Ladybug asked, internally cursing whatever Magic chooses her Lucky Charms.

“I know exactly what to do!” Bunnyx said, already climbing on. “You with me Honeybun?”

“Absolutely!” Honeybee grinned, climbing on after her.

Before any of the other teammates could say anything, Bunnyx had revved the engine and took off down the street.

Honeybee had her arms wrapped around Bunnyx’s waist, and she held tighter on every sharp turn they took. Despite the seriousness of an Akuma attack, it was fun. They should ride through the city like this more often.

While the Akuma was pretty speedy, Bunnyx was good at weaving through the cars. She only had to get close enough, and Honeybee threw her weapon, wrapping the Akuma up and yanking him off the bike.

Bunnyx hit the breaks, turning and drifting to a stop so they wouldn’t be dragging the Akuma along the street old-west style.

While the Akuma threw a tantrum, Honeybee and Bunnyx leaned against the bike as they waited for the other heroes to catch up.

“Are you insane?!” Rena shouted.

“Little bit,” Bunnyx shrugged.

“To be fair,” Honeybee said. “We regularly dress up in animal themed Magic Supersuits to fight a villain who uses Magic Butterflies to possess people. I think that counts.”

“Ugh,” Ladybug sighed, rubbing her face. “Chat, use Cataclysm on the Akuma’s bike. The rest of you? Come up with a plan on how I’m supposed to throw that Lucky Charm in the air to fix everything.”

The pair looked at the motorcycle they’d been leaning against, then to each other, and back to Ladybug.

“Got a ramp handy?” they chorused. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it a running joke with me to have large Lucky Charms that can't really be tossed in the air that easily? Maybe.


	17. Fashion Week

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place sometime post-series. As implied by certain characters being mentioned.

Alix heard the hotel room door slam. A flash of gold zipped through the hallway. Getting up from the couch, she followed and found Chloé face down on their bed. Pollen had been patting Chloé’s head in comfort, but seeing Alix in the doorway, the Kwami floated up and gave her a sad look. She then joined Fluff on the couch.

“You okay there?” Alix asked.

“I’m an idiot,” Chloé muttered into the mattress.

“You’re not an idiot,” she said.

“I am too an idiot,” she retorted. “Because I thought I could go on a trip to New York to support Marinette during Fashion Week, and somehow not run into my mother!”

Alix winced, imagining just how well that went over. Then she walked over and sat on the bed, pulling Chloé closer to her and stroking her hair. Chloé wasn’t crying yet, which was a good sign. But still, she knew this had to open up a hell of a lot of emotions.

“What happened?” Alix asked.

“At first, I thought she was ignoring me,” Chloé said. “She just walked up and started talking to them like nothing was wrong. The team didn’t speak with her, just glared and tried to subtly check on me. Both Gabriel and Nathalie have ‘resting bitch face’, but if you know them enough you can tell the difference between that and their actual angry expressions.”

“I think I could tell the difference,” she admitted. “We did kinda fight against them for a while. That got a few ‘fuck you’ expressions directed my way.”

“Then there was Emilie,” she continued as if she didn’t hear her. “My mother just talked to her so causally! No ‘Hey, how are you? I heard you went missing for two years! And we haven’t talked since! What was that about?’. Just…. Acting like they were the best of friends meeting up for weekly dinner plans.”

“Yikes,” she said, the only response she could really think of.

“And then Emilie asks her,” she stopped and swallowed. “She asks ‘aren’t you going to say hello to Chloé?’. And I swear, it took her a solid ten seconds to figure out who the hell she was talking about! And then she just gives a ‘Oh, hello Claudia!’ and went right back to her conversation!”

“Please tell me someone decked her,” she growled. “If not, I’m marching down there and doing it myself!”

“Alya, Adrien and Emilie tried,” she said, almost laughing. “Everyone else held them back because they know my mother could ruin Marinette’s career out of spite. And Gabriel can only help build her back up so much before he’s accused of playing favorites.”

“Which is exactly why I should be the one to deck her,” she said. “She’s never seen me before. And she won’t, considering we’re absolutely not inviting her to the wedding. So I’m the perfect person to deck her without consequences!”

That got Chloé laughing, at least. It was good to see. There was a time when Audrey’s comments could send her spiraling and doing stupid things. Like revealing her secret identity to all of Paris.

Storming back to her hotel room to rant was an improvement. One Alix was very proud of her for.

“Hey,” Alix said. “When you left, did you tell anyone or…?”

“I told them I was coming back to the hotel,” Chloé answered. “They made me promise to text them when I made it back.”

“Did you?” she wondered.

“On the elevator ride up,” she said.

“Good,” she nodded. “In that case, you want to order room service and watch something? Usually I’d say we go for a run on the rooftops, but Mari will kill us if Bunnyx and Honeybee are seen in New York.”

“Sounds good,” she agreed. “As long as I pick the movie.”

“Deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, Audrey fucking sucks.


	18. Alix's Growth Spurt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place post-reveal for the team.

Adrien thought it was kind of quiet as he came back from lunch. Everyone was involved in casual conversations as they waited for the rest of the class to file in.

Then Chloé and Alix walked in. The former was annoyed and covering her ears, while the latter had a grin that could rival Chat Noir.

“No, absolutely not!” Chloé shouted. “That’s not allowed! At all! You are banned!”

“You realize I have no control over that?” Alix laughed.

“Too bad!” she retorted. “You’re not allowed!”

“You tell her the thing?” Kim asked.

“What thing?” Adrien asked, turning to look at him.

“Nothing much,” Alix shrugged. “Just the fact that I won’t be this short forever.”

“Which is, as I said, not allowed!” Chloé replied. “You’re not even allowed to imply you might get taller!”

“But it’s true!” she insisted. “Jalil was super short until he was seventeen! Then he just shot up and managed to hit a decent height! Dad said he was the same!”

“I know one way to help with this,” Adrien said.

Both girls looked to him, but he already had his phone out. After searching for a certain video on the Ladyblog, he handed the device over to them. Kim, curiosity getting the best of him, decided to hover over their shoulders to watch.

The video in question was of Bunnyx. Specifically, her first known appearance while fighting Timetagger. Where she was clearly taller than Chat Noir.

He watched Chloé’s expression. A combination of disbelief and something that can only be described as ‘oh no she’s hot!!’. She opened her mouth to say something else, but was cut off.

“You do realize all of us will probably grow,” Max said. “Even with Alix gaining quite a few inches, the rest of us probably will too.”

And that was enough to give Chloé a look of triumph, while Alix only sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk if y'all noticed, but I like the idea of the character who is teased about their lack of height suddenly getting a growth spurt in their later teens and ending up a decent height.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for a small excerpt from the shenanigans of the sleepover the groupchat had. Chloé and Bunnyx teaming up to cause chaos and play matchmakers.

When Chloé had suggested a Superhero Sleepover, even offering her hotel room as not only was it big enough, but her identity was already known to the team, she hadn’t expected Ladybug to go for it. Yet, somehow, once she reworked the idea as a Team Bonding experience, that won her over.

Which is how she ended up with several Heroes in her bedroom. Nearly all of them were transformed, except for herself and Kagami, as their identities were known. That left Pollen and Longg to have a sleepover of their own. The Bee Kwami was currently giving her companion a tour of the decked out dollhouse Chloé had bought for her.

The thing Chloé found hilarious, was that after their Kwami revealed that they could change their Hero Costumes, all of them were wearing pajama versions of their Supersuits.

“I have heard of the game before,” Kagami said. “How do you play, exactly?”

“It’s easy,” Rena Rouge answered. “You spin the bottle, and whoever it lands on you ask ‘truth or dare?’. If they say truth, they have to answer any question honestly-”

“Unless it reveals you identity,” Ladybug interjected.

“Yes, that,” she nodded. “And if they say dare, then you come up with some sort of dare for them to do. The dare can be anything from a physical challenge, or minor humiliation, or, well, anything really.”

“That ‘humiliation’ part is concerning,” Kagami said. “Isn’t the point of friendship to not humiliate their friends?”

“It’s not major reputation ruining humiliation,” Carapace assured. “Just things like daring you to do karaoke, or get a terrible makeover or something. Short lived and something to look back on and laugh.”

“As long as everyone remembers to keep themselves in check,” Pegasus said. “Things might get a little out of hand as a group, but we should be able to rein in anyone who goes overboard and veto their dares.”

“We should also have the identity rule on the dares,” Viperion added. “It’s less likely that a dare will reveal your identity, but still.

“Alright,” Kagami nodded. “Count me in.”

“So!” Chat exclaimed. “Who wants to start!”

“I’ll go!” Bunnyx and Roi Singe said together.

Both reached for the bottle in the center of the circle, but Bunnyx got it first. She spun the bottle a little harder than she had to, giving ample time to build anticipation over who it will land on. And of course it landed on Roi Singe.

“Truth or dare?” Bunnyx asked, trying and failing to suppress a grin.

“Dare!” Roi Singe immediately answered.

Chloé tried not to laugh at Ladybug’s expression of instant regret. Very few people knew that Bunnyx and Roi Singe were really Alix and Kim, a pair who was known for trading ridiculous dares. Bunnyx herself had an almost sadistic grin, as she knew his identity while he didn’t know hers.

Which was exactly why Chloé had suggested the ‘spin the bottle’ version of the game. To prevent those two from getting into a loop of increasingly crazy dares.

“Let’s start easy,” Bunnyx said, leaning in. “Dare you to do a handstand until your next turn.”

“At least give me a challenge!” Roi Singe replied.

He quickly hopped up and flipped into a handstand. Perhaps Bunnyx had underestimated him, as Kim was already pretty physically fit, and the added Hero Transformation gave him a decent boost. Either way, he managed to spin the bottle again, this time landing on Chloé.

“Truth or Dare?” Roi Singe asked.

“Truth,” Chloé shrugged.

“Chicken,” he jeered. “So, have you asked Alix out yet?”

Chloé could feel her face turning red. She bit her lip, trying not to let anyone know that she knew Alix was just two feet away. Ladybug and Chat Noir looked nervous too, as they weren’t aware that she knew.

“We’ve discussed it,” Chloé said carefully. “So far we’re figuring out what all this is, but we’ve talked about, you know. Feelings and stuff.”

Before anyone could ask further, she spun the bottle. This time, it landed on Chat. And, well, Chloé had several ideas.

“Truth or dare?” Chloé asked.

“Dare,” Chat said. “Because I know picking ‘truth’ gets questions about ‘Balcony Girl’.”

“Fair,” she grinned. “In that case, you and Viperion. Seven minutes in Heaven.”

That got several confused sounds and raised eyebrows. Roi Singe actually toppled over in surprise, which made Bunnyx snicker in triumph.

“What does that mean?” Kagami asked.

“It means, uh,” Rena began to explain, still short circuiting a little. “It’s a game where two people are locked in a closet. With the implication of them making out. They don’t have to though! They could just wait out the timer! But, well...”

And that got Kagami’s expression to match everyone else. Ladybug’s face matched her outfit, and she looked very lost in thought at the idea. It was Bunnyx who recovered first to lightly elbow Chloé’s side.

“Bringing out the big guns early I see,” Bunnyx said. “I would’ve expected you to toss him in there with Ladybug though.”

“Please,” Chloé scoffed. “Chat’s love life is enough of a train wreck. Might as well confuse him more.”

“Fair point,” she conceded. “They seem a little too frozen though. Think they need some help?”

“Just a little,” she agreed.

Moving quickly, they grabbed both boys. Bunnyx was carrying Viperion princess-style, while Chloé had Chat over her shoulder in a fireman’s carry.

“How are you doing that?” Viperion asked, somewhat flustered at being picked up by someone so much smaller.

“Superhero strength,” Bunnyx said, shrugging as best she could. “I could probably lift Roi Singe if I wanted to.”

“I know what your next dare’s going to be,” Chloé said. “And while I’m not transformed, you do build up some arm muscle swinging around Paris.”

She then walked over and opened her closet before unceremoniously dumping Chat inside.

“Sorry it’s not as… cozy as you’d like for this,” Chloé said. “Try not to claw my dresses though, okay?”

“If I get you on a dare I’m shoving you and the rabbit in here,” Chat pouted.

“Fine with me,” Bunnyx said, dumping Viperion in with him. “You two have fun. We’re going to try and keep Ladybug from melting at the mental image of what could be going on in here.”

As Ladybug let out a squeak at that, Chloé and Bunnyx just exchanged a high five.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should I tag the background ship? maybe. 
> 
> Either way, these two are having fun knowing who everyone is.


	20. Akumatized Forms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was one of those chapters that gave me trouble.

“I thought we agreed that I’d get bored?” Chloé said.

“Well, I did,” Alix admitted. “But I changed my mind. Because honestly, I’ll get bored. And I can’t exactly make up an excuse to get out of it. Well, I can. But it’s Jalil’s first unveiling as head of an exhibit. It’d be a dick move.”

Chloé frowned at her. Alix was too insistent, too nervous. Something was up. And she didn’t quite put it together until she noticed the nose twitch, a habit picked up from her Miraculous.

“You just did a Time Jump,” Chloé mused. “Did you skip out and get Jalil Akumatized or something?”

“No,” Alix answered. “It wasn’t him.”

Chloé wanted to ask ‘then who?’. Yet the answer came in the form of the look Alix gave her.

Oh.

Well, there goes any good mood for the day.

“How bad was it?” Chloé asked, guilt over an alternate timeline building up. “And don’t downplay it.”

“Pretty bad,” she said. “It was… you ran into someone while out shopping. Someone who only remembered you from back when you were a jerk. It turned into a fight about whether or not you’ve changed, and it was enough. You called yourself Phoenix. I’ll admit, I did like the theme. Rising from the ashes. But we didn’t wait to see how much damage you’d cause.”

“Great,” she huffed, flopping into a nearby chair. “Can I ask… how many times has this happened?”

“What do you mean?” she wondered.

“How many times-“ she swallowed. “How many times have I been Akumatized in Alternate Timelines?”

“This is the first time in this Timeline,” she answered.

“But in other timelines….” She began.

With a sigh, Alix flopped into the chair beside her. This expression was more thoughtful. The kind she had when discussing the possibilities branching off the Timeline, and wasn’t sure what could lead when.

“There are so many Timelines,” Alix explained. “There are Timelines where you did give in to Hawkmoth, becoming Miracle Queen. But there are also Timelines where you didn’t, and you stole his Miraculous instead. Hell, there’s a Timeline where you were given the Ladybug Miraculous instead of Marinette!”

“Now there’s a terrifying thought,” Chloé almost laughed.

“You did good in that Timeline though,” she said. “But in this Timeline, when you became Honeybee, so far ‘Phoenix’ is the only one. And honestly, considering every interaction with your mom, I’m surprised it’s the first time.”

“I guess I’m too used to her to be upset,” she said.

“Maybe,” she said, reaching over and taking Chloé’s hand. “But I don’t blame you for Phoenix. You wanted to prove you’ve changed. And you have. Even without Magic.”

“Yeah yeah,” she sighed. “I’m amazing and all that.”

“Not to feed your ego,” she said, kissing her cheek, “But you kind of are.”

And boy, did that make Chloé melt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look. I like being self-referential.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea what lacrosse is, other than a sport of some kind, so have some shovel talk during a game!

Chloé had absolutely no idea what Lacrosse was.

Well, obviously it was a sport. But really, she had no idea what the rules were and was barely following along as her girlfriend played. It seemed like it was going well, since Alix was grinning instead of glaring. So she just made sure to smile when Alix looked over to see if she was still watching. 

Chloé’s attention was pulled away by a man sitting next to her. He looked familiar, but she couldn’t place it. The man looked like he was in his early twenties, reddish-brown hair. Very nerdy glasses. And- oh god he was talking to her and she just missed it.

“Couldn’t hear you over the crowd,” Chloé said.

“Oh, sorry,” the man said, speaking a little louder. “I was just saying I wanted to talk about some things with you.”

“Who are you again?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Right, we haven’t formally met yet,” he said, offering a hand. “Jalil Kubdel, Alix’s brother.”

“Oh,” Chloé said, taking the handshake even though she was suddenly very on edge. “I’d introduce myself, but I guess you already know about me. Who doesn’t, really? I hear I’m pretty infamous.”

“Perhaps a little,” he admitted. “But Alix did talk about you. A lot.”

“Right…” Chloé sighed. “And I’m taking a wild guess that it wasn’t always good things?”

“To be blunt, no, it wasn’t,” he said. “I did hear about the gradual shift of you being nicer, but if someone decided to Time Travel to a year ago and tell me you two would be dating, I would ask what kind of bet Alix got herself into this time.”

Chloé had to laugh a little at that. Mostly because Jalil had no idea that his sister was, in fact, a Time Traveler. And she could do exactly that.

“So is this where you say ‘if I hurt her, you’ll hurt me’?” Chloé asked. “Because while I have no intentions of hurting Alix, I’m pretty sure I could take you in a fight.”

“You have a point,” Jalil agreed, giving her a look over. “But the thing about being a historian and working in a museum, is that you pick up a few lessons on ancient curses! Wouldn’t want any of those coming after you!”

Chloé opened her mouth to respond, but stopped short. A few years ago, and that would’ve sounded like a joke. Some nerdy threat that would get shut down because it was ridiculous, utterly ridiculous, to think you could curse someone. Her old jerk self would've ridiculed him to hell and back over that. 

But then, well, if people could use Magic jewelry to turn into Heroes and Villains, then ancient curses weren’t entirely out of the realm of possibility.

“I’ll… keep that in mind,” Chloé said. “Not that you’ll need to do it. I’m past the ‘being an ass to everyone’ stage.”

“Good,” Jalil grinned. “In that case, perhaps I should point out that the game just finished.”

Looking back to the field, they could see Alix and her team celebrating a victory.

“She’s going to kill you for making me miss the winning shot, you know,” Chloé said.

“Perhaps,” Jalil said. “I’ll just tell her that it wouldn’t have happened if she’d invite you over for dinner so that Dad and I could meet you properly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look man. If the Miraculous exist then why not ancient curses?


	22. Kwami Swap

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I highly debated on considering the Lady Luck AU to be a Kwami Swap, because that whole AU is, but Alix wouldn't be swapped so you know.

“You know,” Cottontail mused, hooking one of the Akuma’s minions with her umbrella and tossing it away. “I think I like your weapon better than mine.”

“Really?” Sting asked. “You use the top pretty well.”

“Sure,” she said. “But it’s basically the same as Ladybug’s yoyo. And it’s long-range. I’d rather be up close and personal with these things.”

“Now that you mention it,” she said, dodging a magic blast and throwing her top. “I’ve seen you grab other things and jump in. Remember last week with Chat’s baton? And how can I forget about the sword?”

“Exactly!” she said. “Hey, we can change costumes. Think I could change my weapon too?”

“You can ask Pollen when you get her back,” she said. “Though I’m calling dibs on the umbrella. You can pick a different staff weapon.”

“Yeah yeah,” she rolled her eyes. “If I can’t then I’m keeping the pocketwatch.”

Sting stopped and stared at her, slightly offended. Cottontail sighed. After throwing the last of the minions off the roof, she paused to lean down and kiss her girlfriend’s cheek.

“I’m joking,” Cottontail said. “Mostly. Fluff’s nice and all, but I want Pollen back.”

“Good,” Sting said. “Because my dad nearly killed me when Ladybug kept me as a temporary Hero and I couldn’t tell him where the pocketwatch was.”

“You could always tell him you gave it to me,” she suggested.

“That’s almost worse,” she said. “As far as he’s aware, that watch is a family heirloom. Telling him I gave you the watch is basically saying I asked you to marry me.”

Cottontail sputtered at that, trying to find a response. Unfortunately, the Akuma’s minions were climbing back up, in more numbers than before. The pair made a hasty retreat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah yes. Chloé 'VIBE CHECK!' Bourgeois is back.


	23. Their Past Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's kinda angsty. Very angsty.

Something was… off about Chloé. And Alix had no clue why.

It had started at the beginning of the month. For some reason, Chloé was out for a week. That in itself wasn’t unusual. Even people like her had to get sick sometimes. Sabrina assured their teacher that Chloé was fine and would be back soon, spending all of class switching between taking notes and texting under the table.

What was unusual during that week was her social media accounts. Alix had followed Chloé’s twitter and instagram out of morbid curiosity over what the girl might post. Well, originally. Despite Chloé’s bratty personality, she retweeted some funny memes and took some cool pictures, even if most of those were selfies.

But her Twitter and Instagram presence was nonexistent. No posts, no comments, not even any likes. It was weird.

Then Chloé came back on Monday. And now she was the one with a nonexistent presence. She didn’t say anything. There were no dramatics or theatrics. No ‘hey pay attention to me’ attitude. Even rude comments had stopped. Despite plenty of opportunities like Marinette tripping in the hall, or Rose getting gum stuck in her hair. And while Alix couldn’t say she wanted to be laughed at, there wasn’t even a smirk when Kim had gotten a lucky shot and hit her in the face with a dodgeball.

All Chloé seemed to do was walk from place to place. She didn’t focus on class. Not that she did much before, but instead of daydreaming, gossiping with Sabrina, or pretending to do work to please the teachers, she did nothing. Just stared off into space. The most she did was check her phone, but the fact that her social media still lacked any activity indicated that she was just checking texts.

Everyone knew something wrong. There were whispers, but all gossip. And while Alix had never been one to pay attention to tabloid magazines, the Mayor’s family wasn’t showing up in any of them.

It was Wednesday when Alix saw Chloé alone. Sabrina had left to pickup some food, and Chloé herself had wandered off. Despite part of her telling her to ignore it, Alix followed.

She found Chloé in an empty bathroom. Splashing water on her face while her hands shook. Alix wondered if she should leave, but Chloé noticed her first.

Chloé’s gaze focused a little, attempting to glare at her. To pretend everything was fine.

“The hell do you want?” Chloé demanded, though with far less bite than usual.

“Just...” Alix tried to figure out how to explain. “Are you okay?”

“Like you care,” she scoffed. “What are you hoping for? Some juicy gossip? Blackmail to get me to back off? Well you can take that idea and shove it up your-”

“Just stop,” she said, her voice a lot calmer than she felt. “I’m asking because despite the fact that you’re a massive bitch all the time, people noticed that something’s up and they’re worried about you. I’m just the only one of us who’s brave enough to ignore you telling me to fuck off. So please, tell me what’s going on with you.”

That shut her up real quick. Chloé hesitated, silent for a moment. She hugged herself closer, staring off into the mirror for a moment. Then she turned back to Alix. There was a proper glare. But not the condescending one she usually wore.

No, this had a hint of righteous fury to it. And Alix would never admit it out loud, but that look scared her. It was probably the first time she’d ever felt intimidated by her.

“If anything I’m about to say leaves this room,” Chloé began, “Then you’ll find the bitch I was before is nowhere near the amount of Hell I can bring.”

“Fine,” Alix agreed. “So tell me what happened to you.”

“It- it wasn’t me directly,” she admitted, her fire dying down a bit. “Things happened to a friend.”

“Sabrina seems fine,” she said.

“I have more friends than just Sabrina,” she shook her head. “But he’s… different. He’s family. His parents are family too.”

Alix tried not to look surprised at that. She wondered who the guy was. Chloé mentioned a few celebrities before. Was it one of them?

“His mother,” Chloé said. “She disappeared. Straight up vanished. No one knows what happened.”

“Damn,” Alix said. “The cops are probably looking for her, right? They’ll find her.”

“They’re so incompetent it’s ridiculous,” she huffed. “Utterly ridiculous. Their current theory is that she just got up and decided to leave them! That instead of getting a divorce like a sane person, she decided to just disappear!”

“Are you sure she didn’t?” she asked.

“Don’t you dare!” she shouted. “Emilie wouldn’t do that to them! To us! She loved- she loves us! If she disappeared then something’s wrong!”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant that sometimes people do leave. Without caring who they leave behind.”

Chloé frowned at that, regarding her carefully. That comment seemed to hit too close to home, somehow. Odd, as she’d been referring to her own situation. Alix realized that she honestly had no idea what Chloé’s home life was like. Although, as much as Chloé loved to mention her dad, she wasn’t sure she’d ever heard Chloé say anything about her mom.

“Yeah, well, whatever.” Chloé pouted. “You can go tell everyone that I’ll be fine and they can stop ‘caring’.”

“But will you be okay?” Alix asked.

“As soon as she’s back home, I will be,” she said, attempting to push past her and out the door.

“You’re… different than I thought,” she said.

That got Chloé to stop. She still had a hand on the door, ready to run out, but she stopped.

“You care about people,” Alix said.

“Of course I don’t,” Chloé responded. “I know I’m just a selfish brat.”

“True,” she said. “But that doesn’t make me wrong. You care about your friend and his mom. And on some level, you care about everyone else too.”

“What in the world makes you think that?” she said, facing her just enough to raise an eyebrow.

“You talked to me,” she said. “You could’ve told me to fuck off a second time. Or walked out. But the moment I said people are worried about you, you gave me enough of an explanation to reassure them.”

“You asked, I answered,” she said. “Don’t think of it as anything other than me needing someone to vent to that won’t go blabbing to gossip magazines.”

With that, she walked out. Yet Alix was still replaying the conversation over in her head. She’d never think she’d see Chloé as more than the two-dimensional rich bully stereotype. Yet… all of that was something else entirely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look man. Y'all know I write Chloé and Adrien as super close. Which of course means that she's close with his parents as well. Naturally Chloé would be wrecked for a while when Emilie 'disappears'.  
The fact that this just so happens to be the first one-on-one convo they've had that isn't a fight and happens to shift some perspectives? That's just the cherry on top.


	24. Future Meets The Present.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> much lighter than last chapter!

Chloé was not having a good day.

Her morning had started out fine enough. Breakfast with nearly the whole Team. Done in time to head to a meeting without running across the rooftops. And she had put together a cute outfit too. Black jacket with gold accents, yellow top, black pants, and boots that matched the jacket. Her signature colors, of course.

Then she got hit by some sort of magic that sent her spinning, which was not good for her stomach. Next thing she knew, she was landing hard on her back. At least it wasn’t her front, as Pollen was hiding in her jacket pocket.

From the feeling of tile under her and seeing the ceiling above her, she guessed that she’d been moved through either Space or Time. She really hoped it was Space, because then she could just call Max for a lift. This would just be a five second detour.

As the disorientation wore off, she saw a woman standing above her with a concerned expression. She looked familiar. Red hair, blue-green eyes.

“Are you alright, miss?” the woman asked, offering her a hand up.

“Fine,” Chloé answered, accepting the help up and leaning against the table- desk?- beside them. “I’m a little used to this sort of thing.”

“I think we’re all used to weird things since those Akumas showed up,” another voice said.

Wait. That was Rose’s voice. And… Akumas? There weren’t Akumas around anymore. Just the Champions. And-

Oh.

“Son of a bitch,” Chloé muttered. “It had to be Time Travel.”

She found herself in a classroom, looking at quite a few familiar faces. Though all were about a decade younger than she was used to. Between the ‘Akuma’ comment and the fact that she recognized the woman who helped her up as Miss Bustier, it was easy to narrow down the ‘when’.

As she was trying to narrow it down further, a certain group of four stood up a little, ready to bolt out.

“Miss Bustier,” Marinette began. “If there’s an Akuma nearby, then we need to get somewhere safer and-”

“Oh hush,” Chloé waved her hand at her. “It’s not an Akuma. And even if it was, the thing’s about a decade in the future so you can’t do anything about it.”

“What?” Adrien asked.

“Time travel, Adrikitty,” she said. “Which is so inconvenient because now I have to wait for a rescue. You’d think you could just time travel to the exact moment I showed up, but no. It doesn’t work that way so I’ll have to wait a few minutes. Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!”

“Chloé?!” several of them realized.

“Really?” she sighed. “That’s how you people recognize me? Speaking of, where is mini-bee?”

“That’s a good question,” Miss Bustier said, her voice having that ‘I’m panicking but I’m the adult so I must stay calm’ quality to it. “She was just here and then you showed up.”

“Oh,” she said. “In that case she probably switched places with me in the timeline. She’ll be fine.”

“You seem oddly sure of that,” Sabrina said.

“Well when you marry a time traveler, you learn a few things,” she shrugged.

That got a few whispers going. As Chloé looked over them, she tried not to meet Alix’s face. Though judging by the flustered look, that might’ve been too much of a hint. One of the rules of Time Travel was to not give too much away.

Which was why she shoved down the urge to growl when a certain little liar spoke up.

“Time Travel is weird like that,” Lila said, speaking loud enough to get everyone’s attention. “Last weekend, Ladybug and I went with that new Bunny hero on a trip to ancient Rome! It was quite an adventure!”

Oh boy. Chloé really had to keep that under control. It was tempting to tear the brat apart here and now. Especially for lying about her wife and one of her closest friends. But the Timeline was important.

So she turned her attention closer to the front, where a few people were practically begging to ask questions. She wondered who would be the first.

“So,” Adrien said, barely beating Alya to the punch. “Care to tell me about my future love life?”

“You do not want the answer to that,” Chloé said, giving him a deadpan look. “Your love life makes me want to strangle you.”

His expression was priceless. A good half of the class laughed a little at that, but the only one who really laughed out loud was Alix. Good. That gave her a better idea of the Timeline if Alix already knew about Adrien’s complicated love life.

“Can we do a short interview?” Alya asked. “I haven’t had a chance to interview a Time Traveler yet!”.

“Unfortunately no,” Chloé answered. “One of the rules is not giving away too much about the future.”

“Because you’re such a rule-follower,” Marinette said.

“True,” she shrugged. “But Honeybun will kill me if the Timeline needs readjusted.”

“’Honeybun’???” Kim shouted.

Chloé’s response was to hold up the hand with her wedding ring. Before anyone could ask anything else, she felt the air pressure in the room shift.

A blue portal opened, and a familiar face popped out.

“How do you get yourself into these situations?” Bunnyx asked, leaning on the desk.

“I had nothing to do with it,” Chloé protested. “All I was doing was walking to work.”

“Yeah, but you’re the only one who would end up here of all times,” she said before turning and waving. “By the way, hi guys! Glad to see you’re all tiny again!”

“I’m blaming you too,” said the much younger Chloé that walked through the portal. “Because it definitely wasn’t me who did this. I was just trying to give a presentation for once!”

“First of all, I am you,” Future!Chloé shot back. “Secondly, blame whatever blasted me.”

“See, it is your fault,” Past!Chloé said.

“Oh god there’s two of them,” Nathaniel muttered.

“I heard that!” both Chloé’s glared.

“Ladies, ladies, you’re both pretty,” Bunnyx said. “But I kinda have a fight to get back to so if you could hurry this up?”

Future!Chloé gave their audience a deadpan look, gesturing to Bunnyx as if to say ‘you see what I have to deal with.

“Fine,’ Future!Chloé sighed “I’m already late to that meeting anyway.”

“See you around, mini-team!” Bunnyx said, giving them a joking salute

With that, the pair hopped back through the portal into their own Time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AU where this chapter is the same, but Future!Chloé hears Lila's lies and tears her apart because 'how dare you lie about my wife!!'


	25. Selfies

“I don’t think posting a selfie of us on your instagram is a good idea,” Bunnyx said.

“Why not?” Honeybee asked, already aiming the camera.

“Because how are you going to explain two heroes on ‘Chloé’s’ instagram?” she asked.

“Simple,” she said. “It’s not going on ‘Chloé’s’ instagram.

That just got an expression of ‘are you crazy?’. Honeybee rolled her eyes and snapped a picture

“I set up an instagram for Honeybee,” Honeybee explained. “And a twitter. I also did that for everyone else’s hero personas, though I haven’t gotten around to sending the login info to everyone yet.”

“Why do heroes need instagram and twitter?” Bunnyx asked.

“We don’t need them, exactly,” she shrugged. “But it is fun. And from a practical standpoint, which is what I used to pitch the idea to Ladybug, we can use them to help people. Talk to the civilians more causally and help them out. And verify new Heroes.”

“Verify Heroes?” she repeated.

“You remember when Volpina first showed up?” she asked. “She pretended to be a new Fox Hero. Sure, the Team will know if a new hero is legit because we have Ladybug handing out Miraculous. But if a civilian runs across an Akuma who says ‘hey, I’m totally a new hero!’, well, they can just check LB’s twitter to see if said hero has shown up.”

“That’s kinda brilliant,” she said.

“Don’t act so surprised,” she said. “Although, Chat, Rena and I are already starting a competition for who can get the best pictures.”

“Of course you have,” she laughed.

“I do have some experience in photography,” she said. “I know you don’t think a selfie collage is ‘high art’, but it does count under the medium.”

“I… never really thought of it like that,” she said.

“I noticed,” she said. “Though I can’t exactly submit a portfolio of shots of the Heroes without explaining how I got them, can I?”

“I’m sure you can make something up,” she said.

“True,” she said.


	26. Ridiculous! Utterly Ridiculous!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short, sweet, and more of the 'Audrey Fucking sucks' plot.

“That’s ridi- dumb,” Chloé said.

Despite the fact that they were having a conversation, Alix just sat and stared at her from the couch. Eventually, she sat up a little and got that serious look on her face.

“That’s the fifth time you’ve done that this week,” Alix said.

“Done what?” Chloé asked.

“Changed what you were saying,” Alix said. “You start saying ‘Ridiculous! Utterly Ridiculous!’, and then changing it at the last second. What’s going on?”

Chloé sighed, dropping down onto the seat next to her. After a minute, Alix pulled her closer.

“That phrase bothers me,” Chloé said. “I say it because my mother said it. And for so long, I wanted to copy her. Now I’m trying to get rid of her influence on my life.”

“Oh,” Alix said. “You know, I think most of us associate that phrase with you instead of your mom.”

“Because the past few months are the longest she’s been in France since I was little,” she huffed.

“True,” she said. “But what I mean is maybe you can take it back from her.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Remember what you told me about the Akuma merchandise?” she said. “About how having a doll or an outfit of our Akumatized forms might help ‘take ourselves back from Hawkmoth’s influence’? Think of it like that, but with your mom.”

“I hate when you have a point,” she said.

“Well then you’re going to hate everything because I always have a point,” she replied.

Chloé rolled her eyes before tossing a throw pillow at that smug grin.


	27. Chloé's Rebellion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter related to the "Secret Dating" chapter! Featuring a couple OCs I tossed in.

Teen rebellion was sweet. Well, as much teen rebellion as Chloé could manage, anyway. She’d had to play along with her mother’s demands a little bit to get approval and have Alix be her ‘plus one’ for the party.

It took pointing out that her usual go-to friends were already attending and had brought their own dates, Adrien bringing Marinette(an exceptional choice, in Audrey’s opinion), and Kagami had chosen Luka(completely unexceptional, despite how well he cleaned up.). Even bringing up that Alix’s father was a director at the Lourve (Not the best, but exceptional enough), and promising that they would be on their best behavior!

Which is how the couple found themselves in a mansion, trading pleasantries with guests and admiring the décor. They ran into the other four sometimes, but Adrien, Kagami and Chloé were all supposed to ‘mingle’, talking to other celebrities, CEOs, and so on and so forth.

Chloé and Alix had been talking among themselves when a boy their age walked up.

“Hello, Miss Bourgeois,” the boy said. “A pleasure to see you again.”

“’Hello, Mr. Marceau’,” Chloé said, lightly mocking his tone. “We run into each other all the time, Cedric. Just call me by my name.”

“Forgive me for trying to keep up the usual pleasantries,” he said. “Who’s your friend.”

“Alix Kubdel,” Alix introduced, shaking the guy’s hand.

“Nice to meet you,” he said.

“Alix, this is Cedric Marceau,” Chloé said. “His mother is the host of the party.”

“Well, it’s definitely the fanciest party I’ve been to,” Alix said.

Chloé had been about to ask Cedric how last year’s holiday party had gone, since she’d gone to Adrien’s place instead that day. 

Then there was a loud crash and a lot of screaming. Either someone found the hors d’oeuvres to be subpar, or there was an Akuma. Knowing the current company, it could easily be both.

Although the girl with fiery red hair in the fancy blue ballgown floating above the crowd really indicated the latter.

Usually this would be when Chloé sneaked off to transform, but the Akuma was quickly approaching her. Odd. She hadn’t pissed off anyone lately. But it wouldn’t give her a chance to escape until Ladybug and Chat Noir showed up.

Deciding to stand her ground, she looked around for a weapon. A decoration on the wall caught her eye; a pair of crossed swords. They were purely decorative, not even sharpened, but they’d do the job.

Despite Cedric’s protest, Chloé tugged the swords down, passing one to Alix before facing the Akuma.

“What have we here?” The Akuma asked. “Do you really think a sword can stop me?”

“Anita?” Cedric gasped.

“That’s High Society to you now,” she said with a grin.

“Well get off your high horse and leave,” Chloé said.

That was apparently the wrong thing to say, as High Society’s glare turned her way. Chloé glared back, keeping the sword between them, and herself in front of Alix and Cedric.

“I get it,” High Society said. “I ‘don’t belong here’. Well too bad! You people and your condescending attitude will be shut up before the night’s over!”

As much as Chloé wanted to retort, she wasn’t given the chance as High Society waved her hand and sent a bolt of Magic at her. She deflected it with the sword before rushing forward. She swung, but High Society dodged.

As High Society prepared another blast, a familiar yoyo was wrapped around her arm.

“Sorry we’re late to the party,” Ladybug said.

“Our invitation must’ve been lost in the mail,” Chat Noir added.

As High Society turned her attention on them, doing the standard Akuma ‘give me your Miraculous’ speech, Chloé took the opportunity to drag Cedric and Alix under a table.

“You two stay here,” Chloé whispered. “I’ll… go distract her.”

As she rolled out from the other side of the table, Chloé briefly met her mother’s gaze from across the room. If looks could kill…. It was clear Audrey was upset about the sword stunt. After all, someone of their standing shouldn’t be tearing down décor to use as weapons.

But too bad. Even without the mask, Chloé was a Hero. And she wasn’t going to let Audrey’s standards hinder that ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should draw High Society.


	28. Love Confessions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a followup to last chapter! And Audrey still fucking sucks!

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Alix asked.

“Absolutely,” Chloé responded.

“Look,” she sighed, running a hand through her hair. “I know I’m the first one to say ‘fuck what your mom thinks’, and I totally get being upset and doing something to piss her off more. But in the long run-”

“In the long run, I love you,” she said. “And I’m not doing this because of her. Well, not just because of her.”

“Why else?” she asked.

“Cedric and Anita made me think about things,” she admitted. “How… similar their situation was.”

After High Society had been defeated, and Cedric apologized to Anita for ten minutes, they got the story out of them. How they’d fallen in love, but Cedric’s parents wouldn’t approve of the relationship because of Anita's status. He’d confessed that to her, just before the party, too scared to invite her. As much as Anita understood, she was upset. And Hawkmoth used that to his advantage.

Of course, once Chloé detransformed and got back, her own mother made her disapproval of her previous actions clear. Someone like her shouldn't be tearing down decorative swords to fight! Never mind the fact that Chloé had done it to protect herself, Alix, and Cedric. Although, no matter what choice Chloé had made, whether it had been to run or take the hit, Audrey would’ve told her how Unexceptional™ her actions were.

They’d yelled at one another for a while. Chloé laughing when Audrey threatened to ground her. How was she going to do that, she wondered? Disable the wifi in the entire hotel? That would anger the guests! Keep Chloé locked in her room outside of school? And who exactly was going to be the one enforcing that, since Audrey never bothered to check up on her at all? Try to take away her spending money? Nice try, but Chloé’s bank accounts were in her own name, and she got plenty of income from Miraculous Merchandising. Audrey had no power over her. 

And all of that led to now. Chloé staring at an instagram post prepared on her phone. A selfie of her kissing Alix’s cheek, and a caption about her wonderful girlfriend. A confession to the world about their relationship.

“I don’t want to let her dictate what I do,” Chloé said. “I don’t want to be scared to be me. And I don’t want to hurt the people I love because of that.”

“Love you too,” Alix said.

One deep breath later, and Chloé hit the post button. It took a few seconds for comments to start coming in. The team was supportive, of course. But she didn’t want to look at any other comments for now.


	29. Birthday Gifts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back to short and sweet.

Chloé had to admit, she enjoyed watching Alix’s confusion as she opened her gift.

“Fancy shoes?” Alix said, raising an eyebrow. “Not that I don’t appreciate it, but they’re not my usual style and…”

“I know,” Chloé said. “But if you’re going to be my date to some more formal events, you’ll have to dress appropriately instead of showing up in rollerskates. That said, these do have a little surprise in them. Flip them over.”

Alix frowned, but did as asked. The underside of the shoe looked pretty standard. Except for the niche in the heel that was being filled by a wheel.

“Did you-” Alix snorted with laughter. “Did you get me fancy heelys?”

“As I said, you can’t wear rollerskates to a gala,” Chloé grinned. “But hidden heelys on the other hand, well, it will look like you’re gliding on the dance floor.”

“Okay, changed my mind!” she said. “This is a perfect gift!”

“You’re welcome,” she grinned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had heelys as a kid but we were banned from using them at school or in the house so what was the point?


	30. Married

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter!!

If someone had asked fifteen-year-old Chloé where she’d be in five years, she could’ve never expected where she ended up.

Back then, she’d had no knowledge of any Magic or the Miraculous. She didn’t expect to have people to help her figure out her situation and move forward. Her goals had been to be exactly like her mother, hoping it’d make her feel less miserable.

She couldn’t have predicted the dominoes falling like they did. Emilie’s ‘disappearance’, Heroes and Villains, becoming a Hero herself. But most importantly, the friendships that were forged.

People that she’d hated became friends, teammates that she’d trust with her life, and that trust her in return. Not only in battle, but as people. They helped each other to be the best they could be. Helped her figure out her life, undoing the mentalities her mother had given her.

And now, she wasn’t the same spoiled brat that bullied everyone to get her way. She was a Hero, and had her own goals and careers, far different from what she once wanted.

The thing that would surprise her the most, however, is where she was right now.

Chloé looked over at Alix. She’d fallen asleep about half an hour ago, deciding to just knock out a few hours of the long plane ride. They’d bickered over whether that counted as ‘Time Travel’ or not, though she did concede that Alix was the expert on that.

Smiling at that, Chloé turned her focus to the ring on her hand, and let the whole thing sink in. She was married, to the woman who genuinely loved her, and on their way to a tropical honeymoon.

She wondered what her fifteen-year-old self would say, if they went back and told her. Of course they couldn’t, that would break too many rules of Time Travel. But still, she wondered.

Even so, she wouldn’t trade it for anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is it with me at the end of ship months doing a 'here's a talk about how things in the future are better now' chapter? Because I did the same thing last time! Though, ironically, that one had Time Travel.


End file.
